VIRTUAL BIOMODELLING OF A BIOLOGIC STRUCTURE: THE HUMAN CORNEA

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The cornea is the most important part of the anterior segment of the human eye. In a natural scenario, the tissue that forms part of the corneal architecture presents a stable geometrical morphology, while in a pathological scenario a morphological alteration that affects to the geometry of its architecture is detected. The use of virtual models of biologic structures in the field of Biomedical Engineering has been demonstrated to be very useful in clinical practice for diagnosis and surgical reconstruction. This paper presents the virtual modelling of the human cornea as a technique for the diagnosis of the corneal pathology named keratoconus. After generating the virtual model of the cornea, several geometric variables are then extracted and analyzed, permitting to differentiate between healthy and keratoconic corneas. The obtained results have been clinically validated and demonstrate the functionality of the methodology applied, being possible to extend this methodology to other geometric variables. Keywords: geometric modelling, keratoconus, corneal disease, virtual model.